Formerly attributed to Juran (傳)巨然 (active 960-986) Search this
Medium:
Ink on silk
Dimensions:
H x W (image): 43.5 x 1656.6 cm (17 1/8 x 652 3/16 in)
Type:
Painting
Origin:
China
Date:
mid-12th to early 13th century
Period:
Southern Song dynasty
Description:
Panoramic landscape along the Yangzi River (Chang Jiang). 240 locations inscribed in red on painting. 2 colophons and 23 collectors' seals in total.
Label:
One of the earliest surviving paintings to depict the full length of the Yangzi River, this long handscroll--measuring around sixteen and a half meters (54 feet)--shows a bird's-eye view of the river from its source in the Min Mountains to the Yellow Sea. Place names written in red ink allow the painting to serve as a kind of map. As with most traditional Chinese maps, south is at the top and north at the bottom; east, or downriver, is at left, while west, or upriver, is at right.
Flowing sixty-three hundred kilometers (3,780 miles) through eight Chinese provinces and ending at the port city of Shanghai, the Yangzi is among the longest and mightiest rivers on earth. Modern geographers place its source in the Central Asian plateau of Qinghai Province, while Chinese tradition considers the Min River in Sichuan Province to be its starting point. From the confluence of these two main branches in central Sichuan, the Yangzi rushes eastward to the Wu Mountains, where it surges through magnificent canyons--collectively known as the Three Gorges--on its descent to the flatlands below. The river then proceeds at a more stately pace, passing large lakes and joined by numerous tributaries, until it finally enters the sea.
To learn more about this and similar objects, visit http://www.asia.si.edu/SongYuan/default.asp Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy.
Provenance:
Possibly Duanfang (1861-1911), China
[1]
To 1911
Loon Gu-sai, Beijing, to 1911 [2]
From 1911 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Loon Gu-sai in 1911 [3]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
Notes:
[1] See Curatorial Remark 6, James F. Cahill, 1958, in the object record.
[2] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 702, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), Loon Gu Sai was possibly Lunguzhai, a store in the antiques district of Liulichang.This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.
[3] See note 2.
[4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Song Legacy (May 17 to October 26, 2014)
Guests of the Hills: Travelers in Chinese Landscape Painting (August 23, 2008 to March 15, 2009)
Gold: The Asian Touch (September 10, 2005 to February 20, 2006)
In the Mountains (January 31 to August 2, 1998)
On the River (April 01, 1995 to January 23, 1996)
Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
Chinese Paintings (June 5, 1957 to January 1, 1963)
Chinese Panels and Scrolls (May 2, 1923 to June 2, 1924)
